Archive for the ‘Broom Hilda’ Category

Now that I own a laptop, I’m not tethered to my desk. If I want to write something on the ol’ word processing program, I can do so from my couch, my bed, my kitchen table, my backyard, the park across the street, the coffee shop near my office, the passenger seat of my automobile…you get the picture. Unfortunately, most of those places are loud, and therefore are just not conducive to good writing. Maybe what I need is a secluded writing spot, like a small piece of earth floating in the middle of a pond in a dark forest. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Now I’ll be sure to finish my novel…

I’m not a greedy man. I don’t need to win the lottery in order to feel financially secure. All I need is to scrounge up enough money to do without private mortgage insurance, save enough greenbacks to pay for a complete basement renovation, gather enough cash to eliminate student loans for my wife and I, amass enough moolah to purchase a family-friendly vehicle, and squirrel away enough dinero to buffer my savings account. Come to think of it, maybe I do need to win the lottery.

I’m sitting in front of my space heater, wearing a knitted cap and looking very much like The Edge. Why? Because my boiler went out earlier today and the temperature in my house has dipped to 58 degrees. Not only that, but the repairman who came out this afternoon told me I needed a new unit. I probably do, but I’ll shop around for one instead of going with the first guy who comes to the house. In the meantime, I have several things to be thankful for: my house is not drafty, I still have a working hot water heater, and my gas bill for November will be ever so slightly less expensive. Goody.

Have you ever seen the TV show Hoarders? The one that chronicles (some might say exploits) people who fill their homes with useless junk? Well, that’s the opposite of me. I like my living environment uncluttered and my reserves plentiful. I believe in saving now and spending later. And while I’m not an ascetic, I do tend to overlook costly material things in favor of simple pleasures like running outside or cooking a good meal. The point is, I would never clutter my home so completely that I could roll around in filth. Still, I have to admire the way the “garbageman” is drawn in this strip. His robust funk and uncanny good cheer even puts Pigpen to shame.

At the risk of contradicting my statement that homes should be held onto for decades, I’m not sure I would feel comfortable purchasing real estate from its original owners. The longer someone stays in a house, the easier it becomes for them to ignore its various imperfections. Those cracks, creaks, and stains begin to pile up just as the urge to maintain a top-notch house hits its nadir. I’m sure there are exceptions to the rule, but when I was shopping around, the houses I looked at with owners who had been living there five years were in much better shape than the houses I looked at with owners who had been living there thirty years.

As a fan of comics, I’ve come to appreciate the subtle nuances of the freak-out panel. For decades, cartoonists have used the medium to create all sorts of exaggerated gestures and over-the-top reactions. But today’s Broom Hilda may feature the freakiest freak-out of them all. The wrinkled nose, the realistic eyeballs attached to coils, the flames and hair and lightning bolts; they all add up to one deliriously jolting image. I was so shocked by it, in fact, that I forgot all about the vile vinegar and jalapeno pepper mix that inspired such lunacy in the first place.

As a resident of Illinois, I’ve see more tributes to Abraham Lincoln in the last six months than most people will see in their lifetimes. And while I fully appreciate his contributions, I don’t think of him as America’s greatest president. I would reserve that title for George Washington, who is most often though of as a general but whose decision to resign after two terms in office reverberates to this day. Washington could have been a de facto king (something many rulers of newly independent nations fall prey to) but his willingness to step aside sent a powerful signal to his countrymen that democracy was about more than personal ambition.